Optimise your child’s physical function

What is Paediatric Physiotherapy?

Paediatric Physiotherapy aims to optimise your child’s physical function and maximise their ability to participate in movement activities at home, school and in the community.

Movement is essential to your child’s normal development. If your child’s movement ability is restricted they can be limited in their ability to play, learn and socialise. As a result, without timely physiotherapy intervention, they risk delays in all areas of:

Social and emotional development

Approaches to learning new tasks and challenges

Thinking and problem-solving

Communication, language and literacy

If your child is faced with limitations in their ability to move, early physiotherapy intervention can help manage the extent of subsequent developmental delays.

Your child’s treatment will be individually tailored to address their unique needs, abilities and interests. A typical consultation for your child may involve:

provision of equipment to improve physical function such as taping, orthotics or walking aids

parent and carer training

provision of a program detailing specific play ideas for home/school so that your child continues to develop their movement skills in between physiotherapy sessions

Frequency of physiotherapy treatment will vary depending on your child’s needs and goals. Therapy may involve a block of weekly sessions to target a specific need or perhaps regular monthly sessions for children who benefit from less frequent, ongoing therapy input. After your initial consultation, Sarah Jay Paediatric Physiotherapy will prescribe a treatment plan, based on your child’s needs, designed to achieve your child’s goals.

Our physiotherapy service is centre-based in Adamstown. However, after your initial consultation, therapy can be arranged in the home, school or community environment as is best suited to your child and family needs.

When should you seek advice from Sarah Jay Paediatric Physiotherapy?

As a general rule, if you believe something seems odd or wrong to you about the way your child moves, book an appointment and ask about it. After all, you know your child best!

You should certainly seek advice if you are aware of any of the following:

Infants

Your baby’s movement development is delayed/they are not achieving motor milestones at the same rate as most babies their age (see resources for information on normal milestones)

Your baby has a flat spot on their head and/or they prefer to look to one side

Your baby feels particularly floppy or stiff when you are handling them

Your baby is not tolerating tummy time

Your baby was born prematurely (<34 weeks gestation)

Your baby has not yet had their regular hip checks at one week after birth, at 6 weeks after birth, at 6 months after birth and when they begin to walk

Your baby demonstrates preferences of left or right limb usage

Children:

Your child’s movement development is delayed/they are not achieving motor milestones at the same rate as most children their age (see resources for information on normal milestones)

As a passionate physiotherapist and business owner, I am entirely accountable for supporting you and your child. I will work directly with you from the first time we meet, throughout your entire time with the service. Read more